PN 121 
.S6 
1894 
Copy 1 



PN 121 

.S6 ock*-\y <*r fV^* 



1894 
Copy 1 



THE AMERICAN 
AUTHORS' GUILD 



Constitution : By-Laws : Organization 
charter members 



NEW YORK, 189k 



OS \b 

3 

A meeting to organize an Association of 
American Authors was held in the Berkeley 
Lyceum in New York City in May 1892, 
under the following call : 

" The undersigned, believing that the in- 
terests of American authors and literature 
demand the organization of a society of 
American authors on the same general basis 
as the very successful English and French 
societies, invite you to meet at the Berkeley 
Lyceum at No. 23 West Forty-fourth street, 
New York, on May 18th, at 12 m., to organ- 
ize a society of American author-, of which 
all literary workers, both men and women, 
may become members ; with annual dues 
not exceeding five dollars, and having these 
general objects : 

First — To promote a professional spirit 
among authors. 

Second — To settle disputes between au- 
thors and publishers by arbitration, or by an 
appeal to the courts. 



Third — To advise authors as to the vari- 
ous methods of publishing, and to see that 
their contracts are so drawn as to protect 
them in their legal rights. 

Fourth — To co-operate with publishers in 
bringing about better business methods be- 
tween author and publisher. 

Fifth — To secure minor reforms, such as 
an extension of copyright, carriage of liter- 
ary property through the mails at the same 
rate as other merchandise, and in general to 
advance the interests of American authors 
and literature. 

Signed, William Dean Howells, George 
W. Cable, Thomas W. Higginson, Julian 
Hawthorne, Charles D. Warner. James Grant 
Wilson, Moncure D. Conway, Charles Burr 
Todd." 

Gen. James Grant Wilson, in behalf of the 
Genealogical and Biographical Society, wel- 
comed the member- to the hall, and nomi- 
nated Col. Thomas W. Higginson as chair- 
man of the meeting, who was unanimously 
elected. 

The following persons having signified 
their desire to unite in forming an Associa- 
tion of American Authors were accepted as 
incorporating members of said association : 



Thomas Wentworth Higginson 

James Grant Wilson 

George W. Cable 

Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Charles Dudley Warner 

John Albee 

Julian Hawthorne 

Edward Bellamy 

William Dean Howells 

James T. Bixby 

Moncure D. Conway 

Marshal H. Bright 

James Lane Allen 

Hezekiah Butterworth 

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward 

Emily Wooden 

John D. Champlin, Jr. 

Henry S. Styles 

Cynthia Elaise Cleveland 

William L. Stone 

Titus Munson Coan 

Charles Burr Todd 

Alban J. Conant 

Moses Coit Tyler 

George W. Cook 

Barrett Wendell 

Berthold Fernow 

Horace White 

Henry T. Fiuck 

Mary E Wilkins 

Chandos Fulton 



Charles F. Wingate 
Robert Grant 
Louise Chandler Moulton 
Joel Chandler Harris 
Margaret Deland 
Blackburn W. Harte 
Edward Bverett Hale 
Benjamin Hathaway 
James J. Roche 
William T. Hornaday 
Edwin J. Mead 
Julia Ward Howe 
William J, Rolfe 
George Parsons Lathrop 
Maurice Thompson 
Janet Richards 
John T. White 
Eugene Lawrence 
William Henry Smith 
William M. Griswold 
Mary S. Lockwood 
Adah J. Todd 
Eben R. Horsford 
Henry V. Boynton 
Joseph Cook 
James Martin 
Thomas Bailey Aldrich 
Josiah Royce 
Mary O. Nutting 
Edward W. Bok 
William A. Hammond 



Nora Perry 

Alexander K. McClure 
Howard Hinton 
Wallace P. Reed 
N. P. Gilman 
Albert Mathews 
T. R. Rodenbough 
Celia Thaxter 
William H. Beard 
Minot J. Savage 
Edward F. De Laucy 
Horace E. Scudder 
William C. Hudson 
Nathaniel S. Shale r 
Frank L. Stanton 
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 
John Bigelow 
Brooks Adams 
Arthur Gilman 
James E. Bailey 
Edwin L. Bynner 
Mary Ires Todd 
Fannie Edgar Thomas 
S. Weir Mitchell 
Coyne Fletcher 
Henry Coppee 
Emily L. Sherwood 
Constance G. Du Bois 
Oliver O. Howard 
Daniel G. Gilman 
Thomas W. Knox. 



The following Constitution was then read, 
discussed and adopted : 

CONSTITUTION 



ARTICLE I 

NAME 

This society shall be called the Associa- 
tion of American Anthors. 

ARTICLE II 

OBJECTS 

The objects of this society shall be : 

First — To promote a professional spirit 
among authors. 

Second — To foster a friendlier feeling and 
greater confidence between authors and pub- 
lishers by devising some practical means of 
securing accurate returns of sales by the 
publisher. 

Third — To advise authors as to the value 
of literary properly and the different meth- 
ods of publishing, and to see that their con- 
tracts are so drawn as to secure them their 
rights. 



Fourth — To settle disputes between au- 
thors and publishers by arbitration or by an 
appeal to the courts. 

Fifth — To secure certain other reforms 
urgently needed, and in general to maintain, 
define and defend literary property, and ad- 
vance the interests of American authors and 
literature. 

ARTICLE III 

MEMBERS 

All persons engaged in recognized literary 
pursuits shall be eligible to membership in 
this society. Candidates shall be nominated 
b} r a member, shall be recommended by the 
Board of Managers, and shall be voted for at 
the first stated meeting after such nomina- 
tion. A two-thirds vote of the members 
present shall be necessary to elect. 

ARTICLE IV 

OFFICERS 

The officers of this society shall be a Pres- 
ident ; three Vice-Presidents, no two of whom 
shall be residents of the same State ; a Secre- 
tary and a Treasurer. The President shall 
hold office for one year only and shall not be 
eligible to re-election until after the expira- 
tion of one year. 



IO 



ARTICLE V 

BOARD OF MANAGERS 

The affairs of this society shall be man- 
aged by a Board of Managers, to be com- 
posed of the officers of the society and nine 
members to be elected at each annual meet- 
ing. 

ARTICLE VI 

THE PENSION FUND 

All surplus moneys accruing to this so- 
ciety, whether from bequests, or from initia- 
tion fees and dues, shall be invested and 
held as a fund, the interest of which shall be 
expended in aiding such sick, aged or infirm 
members as may be found necessitous, and, 
in case of need, in paying their funeral ex- 
penses. This fund shall be managed by a 
sub-committee of three to be elected by the 
Board of Managers from among their own 
number. 

ARTICLE VII 

Amendments to the Constitution shall 
require at least one month's notice and a 
two-thirds vote of the members present. 



II 



BY-LAWS 



I 

The stated meetings of this society shall 
be held in New York on the first Wednes- 
day of every month, except in June, July, 
August and September. 

II 
The meeting on the first Wednesday of 
October shall be an annual meeting for the 
election of officers, and the presenting of 
reports. The President ma}- call a special 
meeting whenever in his judgment it is 
necessary. At all meetings ten members 
shall constitute a quorum, and three mem- 
bers at meetings of the Board of Managers. 

in 
The President shall preside at all meet- 
ings. If he is absent, one of the Vice-Presi- 
dents shall preside. None of these being 
present, any member may call the meeting 
to order and nominate a chairman pro tern. 
It shall be the duty of the President to ap- 



point an Auditing Committee to examine 
the accounts of the society previously to 
every annual meeting ; and to appoint, if 
so required by the society, any special com- 
mittee. 

IV 

The Secretary shall keep the records of the 
society and a list of the members, with their 
places of residence ; shall conduct the cor- 
respondence of the society, and print and 
mail to each member the minutes of each 
meeting of the society, and of the Board of 
Managers. 



The Treasurer shall see that all fees or 
dues are paid ; shall have charge of the . 
moneys of the society, invest the same with 
the advice and consent of the Board of Man- 
agers, and present at each annual meeting, 
or oftener if called for, a detailed report of 
receipts, disbursements and of the present 
condition of its finances. 

VI 

The Board of Managers shall hear com- 
plaints of any member who may have been 
wronged, and if the case require it, aid such 



13 



member in securing justice. The}' shall ap- 
point a sub-committee to care for the pen- 
sion fund, a sub-committee to pass upon 
candidates for membership, and shall have 
the general supervision of the affairs of the 
society in the interval between the meetings- 

VII 

Each member shall pa} T an initiation fee 
of five dollars, which shall be in lieu of the 
first year's dues, and thereafter the annual 
dues shall be three dollars. 

VIII 

Members by paying fifty dollars shall be- 
come life-members and be exempt from 
further dues. Donations of five hundred 
dollars or over shall entitle the donor to be 
called a Patron of the society. Donations 
or bequests to the Pension Fund, or for any 
special object, shall not be diverted to any 
other purpose. Honorary members shall 
pay no dues. 

IX 

Persons not authors who are actively in- 
terested in letters, or who shall have per- 
formed some signal service to literature, 



14 



may be elected to honorar}' membership by 
a two-thirds vote of the members present at 
a regular meeting. 



By-laws may be amended or suspended by 
a two-thirds vote of the members present at 
any meeting. 



The chairman then appointed a committee 
of three to nominate officers of the society. 
They reported the following, who were unan- 
imously elected : 

President, Thomas Wentworth Higgin- 
son ; Vice-Presidents — Julia Ward Howe, 
Moncure D. Conway, Maurice Thompson ; 
Secretary, Charles Burr Todd ; Treasurer, 
James Grant Wilson. 

Board of Managers— Charles Dudley War- 
ner, George W. Cable, Moses Coit Tyler, 
William Henry Smith, Louise Chandler 
Moulton, Titus Munson Coan, Horace White, 
Cynthia B. Cleveland, William C. Hudson. 



15 



A vote of thanks was tendered to the 
Genealogical and Biographical Society for 
the use of its hall. The officers of the society 
were appointed a Committee with power to 
treat with the trustees of the Genealogical 
and Biographical Society for the use of their 
hall until proper rooms could be secured by 
the Association. 

It was voted to hold a special meeting at 
the Berkeley Lyceum on Friday, June 3, 
1892, at 5 o'clock p.m. 

The meeting then adjourned. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Charles Burr Todd, 

Secretary. 



At the meeting of January, 1894, it was 
voted to change the name of the society from x 
" The Association of American Authors M to l 
The American Authors' Guild. 



Address in care of Dr. Titus M. Coan, 70 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS^ 

027 250 809 4 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 250 809 4 



